Nictopia - According to Disney, I Am Right!

Thursday, April 2, 2009: 3:11PM

According to Disney, I Am Right!

Once again the news comes from NAB’s coverage of The 2009 Cable Show, but what else can be expected when all of cable’s bigwigs are gathered in one place. I am actually surprised Ted Turner hasn’t already started a game of real life Clue.

Anyway, the CEO of the Walt Disney Co., Robert Iger, has confirmed some of the main points that I have said on this blog about the future of the industry. I figured I’d go through what he said, compare it to what I said in my posts, and accuse him of reading my blog (I can dream that I have at least one steady reader).

I said: People are going to look at the Internet like they look at cable, they are paying for a service, so they feel like they should get all that this service should offer. If they can’t get these online streams for free, like they do now, then some may try to find alternatives, Independent sources, or worse yet for the cable company, some will try to pirate the shows.
He said: “…preventing people from watching any shows online, unless they subscribe to some multi-channel service could be viewed as both anti-consumer, and anti-technology, and would be something we would find difficult to embrace.”

Here he agrees with the idea of forcing people to pay for what they currently get for free online will backlash on the the industry. He puts it as giving them the image of being “anti-consumer” and “anti-technology.” I simply said people will find alternate sources to get their entertainment.

I said: Zattoo is a…service that allows you to watch cable channels over the Internet. All you have to do is download their software and you get access to a variety of channels.
He said: “With authentication in place, streaming full networks online would be an interesting and potentially compelling feature for consumers, and we are certainly open to exploring that possibility.”

He should really read my blog, because Zattoo might be him the answer he needs. For most of that blog post I talk about the need to start streaming networks online and here he is admitting that idea intrigues his curiosity.

I said: Instead, the user can do something I can already do with my laptop, except I can also leave my house with my laptop and watch the program then, but I guess they need to worry more about piracy than giving their customers that kind of convenience.
He said: he was open to the Anywhere, Anytime Any device concept of making content available over multiple devices, including the computer, but said that authentication was key to the strategy.

Maybe I am once again grasping for straws, but I see the camparissons. I was referring to the Tru2way DVR that allows viewers to see the same recording on two different TVs in the same house. The point that can be drawn from that statement is the cable industry needs to make taking your programs with you were you go. Iger seems to agree with this notion, and is open to the idea. The only problem with authentication is, how will it react if I were to move a file from my laptop to my desktop. It it will react the way I think, thanks to knowing about DRM issues people have had, that would not be convenient.

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